Slicing machines for slicing foodstuffs such as meat, salami and the like are well known and have existed for many years. Many of the foodstuffs processed by such slicing machines are first formed into loaves, bats or sticks, which typically have round or rectangular cross-sections. Although the terms "loaves", "bats" and "sticks" all are commonly used, the terms "loaf" or "loaves" will be used herein to include all three. Depending on the product involved, the loaves are consistently formed with a uniform cross-section; for example, one common size is a cylindrical loaf having a forty-five millimeter diameter. For best yield, the ends are squared off, although it is known to slice loaves having either tapered or squared off ends.
One well known slicing machine for slicing such loaves is the model numbers 2100 and 2600 slicing machines manufactured by Toby Enterprises, the relevant portion of which is shown in FIG. 1. Other manufacturers of slicing machines are Great Lakes, Grote, Thurne and Berlkel. FIG. 1 illustrates the feed tray of a Toby slicer together with the blade. In use, the product to be sliced 1 is placed on a bed 15 of the feed tray indicated generally at 10. The loaves are maintained in position on the feed tray by holding clamps, or fingers 20, in the Toby slicer and moved through the slicing head by means of one of a plurality of upper chains 30. The fingers 20 are maintained in tension against the loaves by a spring 40 mounted on a shaft 41. The loaves are guided along the bed 15 by a plurality of feed tray guides 50. In normal operation the loaves are moved in an indexed, stepped movement, where the size of step is preset according to the desired thickness of a slice.
Although not obvious from FIG. 1, the slicer feed tray is typically angled downward toward the blade so that gravity aids in directing the loaves to the slicer blade.
A significant difficulty encountered with this prior art clamping arrangement is that a significant amount of waste results because these prior art clamps doe not permit the ends of the loaves to be sliced. The waste which results from such slicing techniques is well known, but until now has been accepted as a necessary element of using a Toby slicer.
Additionally, while the Toby slicer can process single or multiple loaves, substantially greater waste results when multiple loaves are processed simultaneously.
There has therefore been a need for a clamping mechanism which reduces the amount of wastage at the ends of the loaves. There has also been a need for a clamping mechanism which permits multiple, vertical loaves to be sliced at a time without substantial additional wastage.